Chapter 6 Families: Choice and support at work and at home Forward to family prosperity, not back to family poverty 1997: Childcare places for only one in eight children under eight 2005: Universal, free, part-time nursery education for all three- and four-year-olds 2010: Universal, affordable childcare for threeto 14-year-olds and a Sure Start Children’s Centre in every community

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It is impossible to fulfil the potential of our country – never
mind promoting social mobility and equality of life chances –
unless every child gets the best possible start in life.
Government does not bring up children, but it must support
parents in their key role.We will help parents balance work
and family, expand paid leave, deliver the biggest ever expansion
in childcare and end child poverty in a generation.

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The new Labour case

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Strong families are the bedrock of a strong society. Children cannot be
the forgotten constituency of politics; parents put their children first
and they deserve support from government.Yet fear of seeming to
‘nanny’ has in the past meant British law and culture have not supported
parents and children.Government cannot shirk its responsibilities.
Our starting point is that for children to come first parents need
to be given choices: a tax and benefit system to raise family incomes
and tackle child poverty; legal changes to promote a healthy balance
between work and family; and services built around the needs of children.
Our third-term commitment – not a nanny state but a familyfriendly
government.

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Tackling child poverty

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We will end child poverty, starting by halving it – both in terms of relative
low-income and in terms of material deprivation – by 2010-11.

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Work is the best anti-poverty strategy.Tailored help, especially for lone
parents, is key but we are also committed to making work pay – with a
guaranteed income of at least £258 per week for those with children
and in full-time work.

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The benefits system needs to support all children, and those in greatest
need the most.That is the rationale for universal child benefit and
targeted tax credits, and why we have committed to increasing the
Child Tax Credit at least in line with earnings up to and including
2007-08. By October 2005, families with children will be on average
£1,400 per year better off, and those in the poorest fifth of the population
on average £3,200 a year better off compared to 1997. Labour’s
Child Trust Fund creates a nest egg for newborns that they can access
at age 18. It is the world’s first example of a government ensuring that
all children grow up with a financial stake.We are determined to see it
grow and are consulting on making payments at age seven and at secondary
school age, in addition to those made at birth.

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We are supporting local authorities in the radical reform of children’s
services, above all to ensure there is one professional with lead
responsibility for each vulnerable child.We will also ensure that services
are designed to meet the additional needs of disabled children
and their families.

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Universal childcare

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Since 1997, the Government has funded an additional 520,000
sustainable childcare places and now every family with a three- or
four- year-old child has access to a free nursery place. By 2010,we will
create 3,500 Sure Start Children’s Centres for children under five
years – five in every constituency – a universal local service that brings
together childcare and services for families. By 2010, all parents of
three- and four-year-olds will have increased rights to flexible, free,
part-time nursery provision for 15 hours a week over the whole school
year. Over the longer term we will increase free provision to 20 hours.

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For older children up to the age of 14 extended schools, working in
partnership with the private and voluntary sectors, will offer affordable
out-of-school childcare from 8am to 6pm throughout the year,
with a range of arts, music, sport and study support.

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We will help families with incomes of up to £59,000 a year with their
childcare costs through more generous Working Tax Credit, including
help for those using a nanny or au pair. Parents using childcare supported
by their employer will be able to get a tax break worth up to
£50 a week each.We are working with the GLA and the Mayor to
bring down the cost of childcare in London.

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Creating time

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Over 350,000 mothers and 80,000 fathers each year are using new
rights to paid maternity and paternity leave. Parents consistently say
their top priority is more choice of whether to stay at home with their
baby in the first year of its life.We will therefore increase paid maternity
leave to nine months from 2007 – worth an extra £1,400 – with the
goal of achieving a year’s paid leave by the end of the Parliament while
simplifying the system for employers.We want to give fathers more
opportunities to spend time with their children, and are consulting on
how best to do this including the option of sharing paid leave.We have
already introduced the right to request flexible working to parents of
children under six and nearly a million parents have benefited.We
need to balance the needs of parents and carers, with those of employers,
especially small businesses.We are consulting on extending the
right to request flexible working to carers of sick and disabled adults as
a priority, and also on whether we should extend the right to parents of
older children.

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Supporting family life

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Common sense, as well as research, says that children need to be able
to depend on the love and support of both parents.The financial support
we are giving families, along with new rights to flexible working
and access to childcare, are all designed to support family life.
Government can and should support those public and voluntary agencies
that support families and parents.We are examining the development
of a new information service – Parents Direct – to provide advice
on all aspects of children’s services and parental entitlements.

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For those parents who do separate or divorce, both have a responsibility
for a meaningful relationship with their children where that is safe.
We are introducing reforms to minimise conflict and encourage conciliation
by greater and early use of mediation.We stand by the principle
that absent parents should make a fair contribution to the cost of
the upkeep of their children, and we are committed to tackling the
backlog of Child Support Agency claims as efficiently and fairly as
possible.We also need to ensure court orders on access are enforced
according to the best interests of the child, which ideally gives both
parents an important role.

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Increasing home ownership

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A decent home is crucial to family well-being. Homeownership has
increased by over one million with Labour and by the end of our third
term we aim for it to have risen by another million to two million.
Rising house prices in many areas of the country have made it difficult
for people on lower incomes to get a foot on the housing ladder. So we
have raised the stamp duty threshold from £60,000 to £120,000 for
residential properties, exempting an extra 300,000 homebuyers from
stamp duty every year.

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We will continue to respond to the challenges of local housing markets
across the UK. In the South we will invest in extra housing in London
and the wider South East, with particular emphasis on the Thames
Gateway and other growth areas. In the Midlands and North we will
tackle the problems of low demand and abandonment that threaten
communities.

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We want to widen the opportunity to own or part-own, especially for
more young people and those tenants who rent in the private or public
sector. Our comprehensive plan includes:

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*A new Homebuy scheme offering up to 300,000 council and housing
association tenants the opportunity to buy part of their home, increasing
their equity over time if they wish.
*A First Time Buyers Initiative to help over 15,000 first-time buyers who
could not own or part-own a home without extra help.We will use surplus
public land for new homes, enabling the buyer to take out a mortgage for
only the building.
* Strengthening existing home ownership schemes, such as the Key Worker
Living scheme and Shared Ownership.

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Social housing

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The increased supply and quality of social housing is central to
Labour’s belief in mixed, sustainable communities.

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Since 1997, we have cut the number of substandard social-rented
homes by one million; installing 300,000 new kitchens, 220,000 new
bathrooms and 720,000 new boilers and central heating systems into
council homes. By 2010 we will ensure that all social tenants benefit
from a decent,warm home with modern facilities.

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For too long, tenants have had little say over where they live. In a third
term, Labour will offer greater flexibility and choice for those who
rent.We will increase the annual supply of new social homes by 50 per
cent by 2008, an extra 10,000 homes a year, and give local authorities
the ability to start building homes again and bring empty homes back
into use.And we will end the ‘take it or leave it’ approach to social renting
by expanding choice-based lettings nationwide.

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The choice for 2010

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The Tories are all talk and no action on family policy. They
opposed our increases in maternity and paternity pay and the
introduction of flexible working rights. Even the measures they
have proposed wouldn’t come in until 2009, by which time the
Tories are committed to making deep cuts in spending. The
choice is forward with new Labour to a universal, affordable,
good-quality childcare, a million more homeowners, more
choice for all parents and an end to child poverty. Or back to the
risky economic policies of a Tory government that would let
families sink or swim whatever the pressures they face.

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